Honey Sweetened Grape Jelly with Homemade Apple Pectin
I’m not all that crazy about growing my own fruit, being careful about the source of the food I buy, carefully preparing to preserve such fruit, then having to preserve it with a box of Sure-Jel off the store shelf. So I researched how to make my own pectin, and it turns out apples are the answer. I have an apple tree just dripping with apples right in my front yard.
Ingredients
Method
Homemade Apple Pectin
- Quarter the washed underripe apples. Keep the peels on and don’t worry about the cores.
- Cover them with filtered water.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes.
- Line a bowl with cheesecloth. Pour the runny apple sauce into the cheesecloth.
- Suspend it over the bowl and let it drain and drip overnight or for several hours. What is drained into the bowl is the pectin.
- To test it, drop some into a glass of rubbing alcohol. If it gels, it works.
- If the batch is too watery or doesn’t gel nicely, simply reduce it until you get the desired consistency. Simmer it uncovered for 30 minutes to an hour to boil off the excess water and concentrate the pectin.
Grape Jelly
- Combine the grape juice, honey, and homemade gel pectin in a pot. Bring to a boil and boil rapidly for 10 minutes.
- Stir.
- Pour immediately into hot, sterilized jars. Seal with rings and let set until completely cool. The jars should seal as the jelly cools.
Nutrition
Notes
Pectin is found in under ripe food and is a substance that will jell fruit juice when combined with sweeteners.
I had to reduce my batch of pectin for about 45 minutes before I got a nice gel.
You will need cheesecloth and sterilized canning jars with lids and rings.
Very low in saturated fat and sodium, no cholesterol, very high in vitamin C.
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